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From /apa, April 29, 2024, 9:21 a.m
Image: EPA PHOTO
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Image: EPA PHOTO
IMOLA. The horror of Imola has forever stuck with Formula 1 like a reminder.
“Fate was cruel this weekend,” said Gerhard Kuntschik, who has been following the PS circus as a journalist and author for almost 50 years. Less than an hour before his death on April 30, 1994, the reporter spoke to Roland Ratzenberger. “He was in a really good mood and optimistic,” reported Kuntschik. A day later, superstar Ayrton Senna was also killed in an accident.
On the Thursday afternoon before the black weekend, Kuntschik, who has been reporting on motorsports for the Salzburger Nachrichten since the late 1970s, conducted his last long interview with Ratzenberger. The late starter from Salzburg competed in his first season in Formula 1 as a 33-year-old, driving for the underfunded Simtek-Ford racing team. “The debut in Brazil was a complete failure,” Kuntschik (69) recalled in an APA interview about Ratzenberger failing to qualify. But in the second race in Aida, Japan, the former Toyota works driver made it to eleventh place.
Image: Franz Pammer
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Image: Franz Pammer
In Imola, Ratzenberger, nicknamed “Roland the Rat”, wanted to send the next signal to those responsible for the team. Simtek was the baby of the British aerodynamicist Nick Wirth, a former employee of FIA boss Max Mosley. “He believed he was the most advanced, that he was building the most modern Formula 1 car – and unfortunately it was a box,” said Kuntschik in the Review. “From today’s perspective there would be no technical acceptance.”
At 300 km/h into the boundary wall
Ratzenberger was number two behind David Brabham, the son of F1 legend Jack Brabham. His cockpit was not secured for the entire season. “He was in a really good mood and said he could beat Brabham.” But that shouldn’t happen anymore. In the second qualifying session on Saturday, Ratzenberger crashed his car into the boundary wall at over 300 km/h.
“When we watched it on TV in the media center and saw his head reeling, I knew it couldn’t end well. He was definitely dead on the spot,” emphasized Kuntschik. According to him, the accident occurred at 1:22 p.m. Shortly before that there was a conversation with Austrian media representatives. “At 12.40 p.m. Roland got up and said: ‘I don’t have any more time, let’s talk more later.'”
“Senna was already under massive pressure before Imola”
Senna, at the time the clear World Cup favorite in the Williams-Renault, was deeply affected after Ratzenberger’s death, according to several companions. “Senna was devastated, he didn’t want to admit it. He had his doubts about whether he should even start, but in a conversation with chief doctor Sid Watkins he said that he had to drive,” said Kuntschik. In the first two races, the three-time world champion was eliminated twice after taking pole position. “He was already under massive pressure before Imola. You could tell in all phases how nervous he was.”
A day later, the Brazilian was also declared dead in a clinic in Bologna. Even before the start of the Grand Prix, “there was a totally depressed atmosphere, there was no joy at all during the race,” Kuntschik recapitulated. “When Senna had an accident and his death was certain, everyone in the press center was banging on the keys. But the atmosphere there – I’ve never experienced anything like that.”
And the chain of disasters wasn’t over after Imola. It continued in Monaco, where Karl Wendlinger crashed his Sauber into the boundary wall of the harbor chicane on May 12th. The Tyrolean suffered serious injuries and was in a coma for several weeks. In 1994 he was unable to drive a single race. “The French L’Équipe then only had two words in its title: Arrête ça – stop it!” said Kuntschik. Why so many fatal accidents occurred in Formula 1 this year remains a mystery to long-time observers, even 30 years later.
